Played the sandbox a couple times and noted some things from it, I can tell the game has a lot of potential but still has a long way to go. Quick summary of what I think:

movement-kind of hard to control them, when I release the joystick that controls them they still take a good amount of steps after and kinda of glide, making it really easy to step in the crease or out of bounds. If you've ever played 2k basketball series you'll notice how there's kind of an invisible force along the boundaries that make it easier to stay in play,but still possible to go out. This should be added around the crease that way you don't go in it every single time you get close. Also sprint button is a must. Speed differentiates players from each other and is a big factor in lacrosse. Some people can blow right by everyone and that's their style of play while others are slower but have great stick skills. Also adding 'moves' or 'jukes' is something that has to be done and in the game. Just having them in the game isn't enough though, they have to actually work if timed correctly. In the past college lacrosse games none of the moves worked and didn't even phase the defender guarding you.

Passing-I feel like there wasn't even a passing animation. The player would just quickly twitch and the ball would fly to someone else, and almost everytime it was a side arm pass and his stick was at his waist. It reminded me of blast lacrosse the first lacrosse game. definitely needs to be more fluent, slowed down and actually look like someone is passing a lacrosse ball with their hands up.

Shooting- Shooting felt too quick also and inconsistent. All the shots were just quick shots which is how it should be if you press up on the shooting stick to do a quick shot, but not every time. I felt like I had no control on where the ball went and it just flew to random spots in the goal, regardless of where I was aiming it. Shooting should be exactly like NHL where you pull back on the right stick and push it forward for a rip. You should be able to sprint down the alley with your hands loaded(pulling back on the right stick) ready to rip the ball when you press forward. The longer you hold back on the right stick the higher the chance you'll get trail checked bc your stick is hanging. Whenever you pull the right shooting stick back the players hands should go up and back into a shooting form and stay there for as long as you're holding back on the stick and should follow through with the shot whenever you push the shooting stick forward. This will also make it possible to do a hitch type of move if you pull back on the stick like you're about to shoot then release it so he puts his hands back down and you sprint by the defender. Also when shooting if you just do a quick inside type shot by pressing up on the stick the accuracy should be very high opposed to if you're doing an alley dodge and rip it from far out on the run, just like in real life. There should also be different shooting options, for example overhand, underhand and sidearm and behind the back. After playing the sandbox you'll realize that the players execute way too many behind the backs. Btbs should not be automatic. There should be a button combination you have to press to pull it off, because just like in real life, it should take some talent to pull it off. This should be something that gives you momentum and makes the crowd extra loud when you score a btb.

Defense- after playing Fifa and some other games I noticed how on ball defense could work in this game. If you ever played Fifa you'd know how there's an option(button B on Xbox) to stab at the ball(equivalent to a poke check in lacrosse) to steal the ball when close to the ball carrier and if you time it correctly you'll take the ball and if you hit the button too early, late or too often you'll miss and the person with the ball will just be able to run by you. Which is how it should be in this lacrosse game. Also something that should definitely be included in lacrosse 16 is whenever you're on defense and you get close to the ball carrier(stick lengths away) they should automatically put their stick on the mid section(or stick) of the player with the ball, just like every player does in real life, then you manually decide when to throw poke checks. In Fifa and madden if you just get close to the person with the ball then they'll automatically play some basic defense and you just add to the pressure, so that's how it should be in this. In the sandbox I really loved the 'LT' option to set up a dodge and sort of square up. This should definitely carry over to defense without a doubt. That way you can hold it down when someone is dodging on you or just for defense in general, it should work just like it does in Fifa when you hold it on defense. There should also be a button on defense you hold to call a double for as long as you're holding it and whenever you stop holding it the second player goes back to where he should be on D. FIFA has this when you hold RB (on Xbox) and it makes it easy to add and release pressure. Also there needs to be a button to call a slide. Another aspect to make the game better is whenever you hit someone with the right stick the controller should vibrate and you should be able to 'feel' the hit like in madden and nhl, making the crowd react.

AI- when playing the computer the AI should have a sense of the game and make it feel like you're actually playing a real team. For example they should set up in a defense and not just pressure and follow the ball carrier wherever he goes, like in the past college lacrosse games. In the past college lacrosse games playing the computer got old after a game or two bc it just didn't have the feel of a real lacrosse game. It was impossible to set up a dodge bc the defender would be face guarding you and following you step by step wherever you went making it impossible to create separation.

Notes/extras- Along with your formation you should be able to change the pace of play/how aggressive on the D pad like in FIFA. That way if you want to play a fast paced, run and gun, style of play you can by pressing the Dpad to the right or if you want to slow it down and posses the ball for a longer time you can do so by hitting it to the left. It should be exactly like FIFA where the more you hit it to the left the more defensive and slow you'll play and the more you hit it to the right the faster and more aggressive you play. That way if you decide to play fast and a run and gun style you can score more and create more offense with transition but at the same time taking a chance of leaving your defense out to dry if you turn it over.
Another feature should be a 360 degree stick control like in nhl. I know it was mentioned but should definitely be added to the game. Lacrosse is all about stick skills and how comfortable you are with the stick in your hands. That way if you have the ball in your right hand and move the right joystick to the left and hold it there the player will be holding his stick across his body cradling, making it possible to do a face dodge.
Something to make the game feel a little more realistic is to add the ability to put a team name on the front of the jerseys when creating a team. In the past you could only change the colors so even if you did want to make a college team it still didn't feel like you were playing as the team you wanted. Also adding different jersey designs would help. In some sports games when you create a team the game provides a list of team names for you to pick from and each team name is in the commentary. You guys could use 2ks list of team names and change some of them and add those options that way the game would feel more realistic when the announcer is saying your team name. Would make the game much better
Other things that would help the game feel more realistic is having refs on the field while playing and having flags thrown when a penalty committed. Every sports game I've played like madden nhl FIFA all show a little cut scene of the ref saying what flag was committed. Also adding different weather would make the game more realistic. Injuries is another. Teams that can stay the healthiest go the furthest, no team goes a season without any injuries so it only makes sense to have them. Season mode or dynasty mode should mimic madden or any other sports game with the set up and depth. Play off games should have a different feel than a regular season game, ie larger and louder crowd, bigger celebrations from scorers and sidelines.

First I’d like to say it is pretty good and looks like things are coming along nicely. I would also note that some of my negative comments may have been worsened due to issues on my end and not just due to the game (lag issues; will explain below). I do hope there will be more beta tests coming out soon.

General Pros & ConsPros:
-The graphics look great for a beta.
-Once I got the hang of the controls it was quite a bit of fun.
-I like all of the camera angles (it’s nice to have so many options).
-The “Sandbox” is user friendly i.e. it was easy to locate it and start playing.

Cons:
-Overall game play and loading of the sandbox was very laggy and slow.
-The ball carrier's movements sometimes pixilated and weren't smooth.
-The menu also lagged quite a bit.
-At the beginning of the game it wouldn't start; I had to go into the settings and change the camera view to get it working.
-Multiple buttons for one action (passing being the A button & RT button and Shooting being B & R Analog Stick)
-The AI doesn’t always turn to face the ball (sometimes turns away) which leads to errant passes.
-When shooting the ball carrier lags and it looks like the ball actually leaves the stick going backward before going forward.
-Sometimes the ball carrier would move toward the end line on its own.

PassingOverview:
Overall I like the passing and being able to throw hard or lighter passes. It seemed that the passing was sometimes too accurate and then inaccurate (possibly lag or my fault) but I liked it. I really liked the non ball carrying player’s movements; felt smooth though I did notice they both would end up either at goal line extended or behind the cage.
Improvements:
-It would be great if there was a quick stick pass function and to be able to start it right before receiving a pass.
-Make passing more consistent and harder/less accurate (or different skill levels of passing like in EA sports FIFA games).
-Being able to pass behind the back, underhand and backhand (as well as overhand obviously). It could be controlled by situation on the field compared to location on the field when passing; or it could be controlled by the player (a specific button combination).

ShootingOverview:
I had a hard time being able to tell where the ball was ending up in the net (sometimes the ball would bounce out of the net so fast I wasn’t sure if I scored or hit the pipe). The overall mechanics of shooting looked good; and I did like the shooting “animations” such as dive shots though it seemed to happen too often or in areas where you wouldn’t be diving. I think it would work out better having a shooting system like EA sports NHL rather than a button to shoot.
Improvements:
-EA sports NHL style shooting system.
-Improved aiming control (I again couldn’t tell where I was shooting exactly due to lag).
-Improved quick stick shooting (being able to start the quick stick before receiving the ball).
-To be able to shoot overhand, behind the back, and underhand.
-Better control of different types of shooting (winding up for a harder shot or a quicker weaker shot).

Suggestions/Ideas to add to the “Sandbox”
-Have a ball shadow with various shadow size options (off being an option)
-Ball trail/tail size options (bigger, smaller off etc.)

As I commented before shooting should be completely different than it was in the beta. You have no control as to where the ball goes, it just flies to a random spot that you can't tell and bounces off the net. Shooting should be like NHL and FIFA where if I hold the left stick(stick to aim shot) to the top right then the ball should go in that general direction. If you move the right stick(stick to shoot) directly down and then up(or just up for closer shot) then it should be top right but if you don't get it directly down and move it to the right more then the shot should miss the cage to the right and if you move the right stick to the left by shooting then the shot will be closer to center of cage. That would be like the swinging in Rory's new golf game that EA made.

For display it should be set up just like how a college game is displayed on TV. For example when the replays happen, when it shows the refs, and how the broadcasting is. This is how every popular sports game is set up to make it feel more realistic.

I also feel like season or career mode should be set up just like it is an ncaa football. Also there should be different fields and stadiums. That way it's not just the same place everytime and feels more realistic. Another aspect that would make the game feel more realistic is adding what time the game is, whether during the day or at night) something else that could be in the game but is a sketch is to do a button combo to make an automatic pass to quick stick a shot. It would be set up like an alley oop in the nba 2k basketball games where you press a button while you shoot and someone forces a pass to the guy on the crease and he automatically tries to quick stick a shot and if no one is there the ball just gets passed to the crease with no one there.

With all that said, this game is looking really good for a beta and the graphics are really impressive. Can't wait for this game to come out it's gonna be the best sports game.

(10-04-2015, 12:36 PM)SynovialElf Wrote: Hey I just set up an account and I was wondering how I can actually play or test the game? Could you give me directions?
Thanks.

The sandbox is currently available to those who backed the project on IndieGoGo.

If you did that during the original period, you would have received an email from the project giving you details on how to get a code to activate your copy on Steam.

If you didn't - you can get access by backing the project now -just visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lacro...box-and-pc and you can pre-order a copy of the final game on PC and get access to the sandbox straight away to start testing it and giving us feedback.

MOVEMENT
The movement right now is generally good for the game being where it's at right now, but there are a few things I don't like. The teammates have decent positioning, but from time to time they would run past the end line trying to catch a pass, reseting the ball to the box line. Passes shouldn't cause them to run out of bounds and the AI should be telling them to try to stay in bounds so they don't lose possesion. Another thing I wasn't a fan of is how easily you can step into the crease when shooting or just moving behind the cage. This could be a problem when we get full games and our players have no regard for the crease and will cause a lot of turnovers. I'm sure something can be added similar to how in NHL you can't easily skate into the crease (you tend to bounce off or just get slid to the side). Lastly for movement, cutting and dodging happens too easily and too often for my taste. When I move the stick to try to change directions at full speed, there are times where I don't want to cut, but it feels like the slightest movement causes a huge juke and slows me down quite a bit.